Electronic devices have made significant contributions towards the advancement of modern society. An ever increasingly important aspect of electronic devices is the user experience. An important part of the initial user experience is the setup of the electronic device. Typically, for televisions the initial user experience includes configuring the television to work with one or more content providers such as a cable television provider, broadcast television stations, or the like. The process can be time consuming, resulting in a negative initial user experience with a newly purchased television.
In the conventional art, when an individual connects a television to a cable or antenna based network, an auto-program or channel-scan configuration routine (herein after simply referred to as a channel-scan routine) needs to be executed. The channel-scan routine needs to scan analog and/or digital signals to determine the available television channels. The channel-scan routine searches each of a plurality of allocated frequency bands for a signal. If a signal is present on a given frequency band, the channel-scan routine parses metadata, such as transmitting station identifier (TSID) data or program and system information protocol (PSIP) data, identifying the corresponding channel. For example, if a broadcast signal is present on the frequency band between 198 and 204 MHz, the channel-scan routine determines from the metadata that the channel is channel 11-1. Those skilled in the art appreciate that each allocated frequency band is associated with a “designated” channel number, but the metadata for each signal may provide an “advertised” or “virtual” channel number that may be the same or different from the “designated” channel number. The channel-scan routine stores data indicating that a signal is available on designated channel 11 (e.g., frequency band 198-204 MHz) and that it is advertised as channel 11-1. There may also be a plurality of channels broadcast on an allocated frequency band. For example, within a particular frequency band a primary channel (e.g., advertised channel 5-1) and up to two additional channels (e.g., advertised channels 5-2 and 5-3) may be transmitted. In such case, the channel-scan routine may store data indicating that signals are available on designated channel 5 and that they are advertised channels 5-1, 5-2 and 5-3.
The channel-scan routine typically scans a large number of allocated frequency bands for digital and/or analog content signals, and therefore may take 40 minutes or more to complete. Accordingly, there is a continuing need for an improved technique for configuring televisions that will improve the user experience.